Dengfa He

Structural evolution and late Carboniferous magmatism of the Zhongguai arc in the western Junggar Basin, Northwest China: implications for tectonic evolution of the Junggar Ocean

ABSTRACT The structural evolution and late Carboniferous magmatism of the Zhongguai arc in the western Junggar Basin offer some new constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Junggar Ocean. In this study, we conducted structural analysis of seismic profiles and report new geochronological and geochemical data for the late Carboniferous borehole volcanics (basalts, andesites, dacites, and rhyolites) in the Zhongguai arc. Seismic data suggest that the upper Carboniferous lies between the lower Carboniferous and middle Permian compressional tectonostratigraphic strata. Zircon secondary ion mass spectrometry U–Pb and whole-rock Ar–Ar dating results indicate that they erupted at 309–305 Ma. The andesites are low-Fe calc-alkaline, and characterized by relatively high Mg# (3.24–6.00%), Cr (41.2–70.4 ppm), and Ni (23.3–35.6 ppm) contents, and low TiO2 contents (0.69–0.83%) and TFe2O3/MgO ratios (1.48–2.08), similar to those typical of magnesian andesites. They were likely produced by reaction between slab-derived melts and mantle wedge. The basalts show tholeiitic to calc-alkaline affinity, high εNd(t) values (7.7–8.0) and Nb and Zr contents, variable enrichment in Th, U, and light rare earth elements (LREEs), and significant depletion in Nb and Ta. The felsic rocks display arc-like geochemical features with alkaline grantite, and positive εNd(t) values (5.6–7.1). The basalts are interpreted as resulting from partial melting of a metasomatized mantle by slab-derived melt and fluids with involvement of asthenospheric mantle in an extensional setting, whereas the felsic rocks were derived from juvenile lower crust. The formation of these late Carboniferous rocks is probably related to ridge subduction. Given the widespread presence of such rock association in the area from southern West Junggar terrane to Zhongguai arc and initial southeastward-vergent thrust structures in the Zhongguai arc, we suggest that the southern West Junggar terrane and Zhongguai arc might have been amalgamated as a unified overriding plate above a northwestward ridge subduction zone of the Junggar Ocean at 309–302 Ma. The occurrences of middle Permian terrestrial sediments and thrusting reactivation in the Zhongguai arc are possibly indicative of the final welding of the Zhongguai arc and other units of the Junggar basement.

Neoproterozoic rifting in the Upper Yangtze Continental Block: Constraints from granites in the Well W117 borehole, South China

Well W117 in the Sichuan Basin reveals a suite of ~814 Ma quartz monzonites, unconformably overlain by Sinian clastic and carbonate sediments. The quartz monzonites contain no muscovite and amphibole, and are characterized by high SiO2 (72.26–77.93%), total alkali, and TFe2O3/MgO content, and low P2O5 and CaO abundance, with variable A/CNK ratio (0.93–1.19), classified as metaluminous to weakly aluminous highly fractionated I-type granites. They are preserved in the Neoproterozoic rift and exhibit restricted negative εNd(t) values (−7.0 to −5.2) and variable zircon εHf(t) values (−13.9 to 2.3), suggesting their generation via melting of both ancient and juvenile crustal materials in an extensional setting. Their parent magmas were formed in a low-temperature condition (831–650 °C) and finally emplaced at ca. 9–10 km below the surface, indicating that the intrusion underwent exhumation before the deposition of Sinian sag basin. Such geological processes, together with evidence for Neoproterozoic structures in the surrounding area, support that the Upper Yangtze craton experienced two main phases of rifting from 830–635 Ma. The Well W117 granites and its overlying sediments record a geodynamic evolution from orogenic collapse to continental rifting, and to thermal subsidence, probably related to the Rodinia supercontinent breakup.